Formality in Spoken Language
This period we tried to develop a working definition for formality.
This proved to be a slippery topic. While everyone was comfortable with giving examples of formality and informality in both conversation and clothing – as well as identifying that there were subtle rules to formality (“It’s not just the shirt you wear but how you wear it”) – actually pinning down a definition for formality took some time. Ultimately we came to an agreement that it was largely about conforming to socially-accepted conventions. We agreed that most people can successfully speak formally as it means using the most widely agreed forms of language.
The next task was to place a range of elements on a formality continuum:
